Mu' meneen Brothers and Sisters,

As Salaam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.  (May Allah's Peace, Mercy and Blessings be upon all of you)

One of our brothers/sisters has asked this question:

assalamualaykum.
My aunt has a problem. She was told by the doctor before that giving birth to a child would be dangerous to her life. She is now pregnant. As I read in your articles you said that abortion is haram in islam. So what is she supposed to do? 

(There may be some grammatical and spelling errors in the above statement. The forum does not change anything from questions, comments and statements received from our readers for circulation in confidentiality.)

Answer:

Abortion and danger to women life

In the name of Allah, We praise Him, seek His help and ask for His forgiveness. Whoever Allah guides none can misguide, and whoever He allows to fall astray, none can guide them aright. We bear witness that there is no one (no idol, no person, no grave, no prophet, no imam, no dai, nobody!) worthy of worship but Allah Alone, and we bear witness that Muhammad(saws) is His slave-servant and the seal of His Messengers.

The Shariah allows that in certain circumstances, when one has absolutely no choice but to chose between saving the life of the mother or the unborn baby; the life of the one who is living will be preferred to the life of the unborn. In such a situation, there will be no sin upon the parents.

In the situation you have described, it is absolutely imperative the doctor who gave the advice to abort the baby is a pious and God-fearing person; and not some governmental doctor who is more interested in controlling the population than saving the life of the unborn baby! If one is absolutely convinced that the life of the mother would be put at severe risk if she were to deliver her baby, and there is absolutely no way both the mother and the baby would survive, then there is no sin upon the parents if they choose to abort the unborn baby in such a situation.

One should fear Allah Subhanah before making such a big decision, and never ever use this or any other excuse to circumvent any of the laws of Allah and His Messenger (saws); for Allah Subhanah is indeed the All-Seeing, All-Knowing, and Knows even the conditions of one’s hearts and its intentions.

Whatever written of Truth and benefit is only due to Allah’s Assistance and Guidance, and whatever of error is of me. Allah Alone Knows Best and He is the Only Source of Strength.

Your Brother in Islam,

Burhan